Welcome to our family Grace!

 Grace Annabel Nelson - Born June 3rd @ 8:52 am
Grace was born @ Evergreen Hospital in Kirkland. Chris and I got the call that Jake & Em were heading to the hospital at about 11:00 Monday night. We got to the hospital about 2:30 and didn't get to see Grace until about 10:30 that morning. Some anxious moments as we waited there with Linda (Em's mom). I'll never forget seeing Jake pop out of that delivery room beaming with both arms in the air and both thumbs emphatically pointing straight up. We were all guessing her weight, I (of course) was the one to correctly guess her weight at 7 lbs 3 oz, she was 21' long at birth. We couldn't be prouder and happier for both Jake and Em.

Just 3 days later...

Fire rips through their home, thank God none was injured, but they will be displaced from their home for at least 6 or 7 months. Jake thinks a compost pile might have started the fire but nothing yet has been determined. The upstairs is totally gone, that means all the bedroom items and nursery items. They have to go through the painstaking process of identifying all the things they lost and making sure the insurance company rebuilds their place to their total satisfaction. Takes away from the time they could have spent enjoying their daughters first months at home - how sad.

Despite the setback, the kids are in good spirits and we are anxious to get to know our granddaughter. We are heading over today to babysit while Jake and Em do some shopping.

Everything back at our place is good, Chris planted her garden and has been trying hard to help me outside. I really like the condition of our yard, we are slowly starting to add planting to the hillside. The boys (dogs) are good, they are enjoying the nice weather and spending more time outside. It's good to have our neighbors back and they already have their yards in beautiful condition, it's hard to keep up!

Ben and Matt have both been busy as ever and they are both enjoying their careers and they are both excelling. Ben sold his large viaduct painting and is working on it's replacement, should be amazing when he finishes it. It's been so long since I've updated this blog, I don't know if I had previously mentioned that Ben & Matt got married, we are so happy for both of them. There ceremony was held on the state capital grounds and a reception followed over at Peters in Olympia. It rained but as usual the boys were prepared and we all had fun celebrating with them under the tent. They honeymooned in LA @ the Beverly Hills Hilton and had a great time.

Trav seems to be settled in to his new place, much closer to his work and he is working hard to strengthen his bond with Bailey and Dillon, it hasn't been easy for him but he never gives in and I'm continually amazed at how positive he remains.

Things are good up at the golf course, our very wet spring has got us off to a slower start then I would have liked but I'm really happy with my staff and I will not be working as much on the weekends as I did last year. That's good because it gives me more time to visit Grace.

Happy New Year - Seahawks Superbowl Champs

It's February 4, still reveling in our epic beat down of the Denver Bronco's in Superbowl 48 (43-8). Seattle's hosting a parade on Wednesday, it would be fun to go but we got our tax appointment in Lake Stevens. Work has been good, we've had a very mild winter, cold temps but very little precip.

Only three weeks until my Borrego trip. Looking forward to seeing our friends, playing golf everyday, hitting the pool and generally warm up. I think I have everything covered at work and I'll bring my laptop with me to keep in touch.

Last year was a success at work, we installed wifi, installed epoxy flooring on our stairs and restrooms, updated fixtures in the proshop, created an office for me and now I have organized our financial and personnel files and have established phone lists and vendor files. We revamped the website, now have an electronic reservation system. This year we are re-doing the lighting inside and outside our buildings, beginning an improvement project on our driving range and modify hole #2. Created a real nice rack display that I plan to take to the parks, hotels and our visitor center to promote our course. Always plenty of improvement projects. I have really enjoyed the job, I look forward to see what we can accomplish in 2014.

Our family has quite a 2014 planned. Ben & Matt are getting married in 2 weeks, I'm so happy for both of them. Jake & Em are expecting a baby, there has been a lot of concern about Em's pregnancy, the baby has been diagnosed with Turner's Syndrom but with several visits to Children's Hospital they have been given good news about delivering a healthy child, we are very excited for them. I'm anxious to see Jake transform into a dad, he'll be great. Travis has been promoted and hopes to move his family closer to work as his hours and responsibilities will increase. He has worked so hard, nice to see him be rewarded.

The dogs are great, Riley's barking concerns us, I hope he eventually grows out of this. They enjoy hanging out with Chris and chasing balls out in the back yard. Chris and I are starting to walk Riley down to the mailbox, he really enjoys the walk and it's good for us as well.

December 21 (days start to get longer tomorrow)

Tried to publish a new post last week but the web site wasn't working right and I lost my thoughts. Just a couple of days until Christmas. All is good, I've just been through a busy patch at work. Last Saturday was our "Sip & Shop" turn out was great and we generated a big night in sales, Merle bought his new clubs from me on Monday and yesterday we finished our transaction with Shelton High School (15 golf bags). On top of all that we had a employee luncheon on Wednesday, and I had 2 budget meetings this week. Wednesday night we were invited down to Holiday Beach for their Christmas party, it was a lot of fun and we met some nice people there. Pat & Patty, Dennis & Carletta, Merle & Donna and Chris & I represented Holiday View II.

Weather has continued to be mild but we did get some snow on Friday morning, more up at the course than here at home. Plan to relax this weekend, Jake & Em are coming over tomorrow for a couple of days & Ben & Matt will be coming over on Christmas. They have purchased a room for Chris and myself on my birthday at the hotel where their condo is, I'm sure we'll go out to dinner and have a fun night in Seattle.

Chris has a new car, she sold her car to Jake and after a couple of weeks of looking around she found an Audi Allroad that I'm not suppose to call a station wagon but it is. It's a nice car and fits her needs. Jake is really happy to get rid of his Jeep and upgrade to the Lexus. It worked out for everyone.

Riley and Carter are good, I think they miss being outside as much as they were in the summer but I get out there with them as much as possible and Chris walks Riley to the mailbox if the weather cooperates. Riley will get a workout when Tucker shows up on Sunday, they play really well together and while Carter seems a little jealous, I think he also appreciates the break from full time Riley watch.

I promised myself not to post much about our finances but as I look back on this in the future this will have been a very important year for us. The market was strong and our investments even outpaced that growth. Getting the job at the golf course not only keeps me very busy but helps us sustain our money in the market. Getting ready to turn 59 in a couple of days, next summer will be an important milestone when I turn 59 1/2.

Thinking about 2014, I want to do some work inside the clubhouse, we need to do quite a few things outside such as moving plants that have gotten to big, we need to bark, I want to have someone edge the backyard around the fence to make things easier to mow and begin to work on the hillside plantings.

Each year I wonder what changes will happen and I'm always surprised how things change when I look back. I'm enclosing a couple of photo's I took on my way in to work. One is a bald eagle sitting on a post at the end of the dock at Holiday Beach, it won't show up to well because of the distance but I have it as my screen saver on my computer and it's awesome when blown up. The other is a pack of seals (do seals run in packs?) laying out on the deck at the Glen Ayre dock. We live in an amazing place, I never take it for granted.

Catching Up (again)

It's October 12 and it's been another 3 months since my last blog, I need to make this more of a priority.
It's been a good summer, of course I worked at the golf course and now that it has slowed I have more time to concentrate on some projects around the house. I just purchased 8 burning bush plant that I intend to transplant up on the rock wall in the back tomorrow. Can't do it today because I had a quarterly report to the board this morning and the Huskies play the Ducks in about 2 hours.

Chris just got back from Italy, she had a great time with Carole, our neighbor. She just got back and got word that her mom had a stroke. As it is turning out, we don't think she did which is great but she's still under observation in Portland.

The dogs have been good, they have adjusted to my work schedule and enjoy being outdoors. Riley is just about ready to turn 2 years old already but thankfully, he still acts and looks like a puppy!

The neighbors are getting in the heading down south mode. Donna and Merle leave next week. We've had a great summer having dinner or drinks on numerous occasions and Thursday nights at Eagle Creek for $1 taco's.

My golf game has been amazingly consistent this summer despite not playing nearly as much as I had the year before. Got my handicap down to an 11 and it's been there for at least the past 2 months. Got some new sticks a couple of weeks ago, one of the benefits of running a golf course is the PUD the equipment vendors extend to us. Haven't got to play with them but a couple times but I like the feel.

Didn't take any vacations but I'll be heading down to Borrego in March for a month. Got a chance to play golf with Jacob twice and he was nice enough to let me win but it won't be much longer, his game is good and he continues to improve.

Ben & Matt have been extremely busy, they are buying a condo downtown Seattle, they are in California this weekend bottling their wine, they both are prospering at work, they both got promoted, Ben is flying to New York after the weekend to open a new Starbucks concept store in Manhattan (a tea store). He was also commissioned by the winery to do 3 paintings. I include them in the blog.

At work I'm in the middle of budget time, it will be interesting to see if the board will want me to continue as a salaried manager, our golf course is subsidised by the lot owners and while I'm accomplishing the goals set for me, it hasn't translated into additional revenue. Should be an interesting couple of weeks.

July 12 - I can't believe it's been over 3 months since my last posting!

So much has changed since my last posting which highlighted my return from Ariz & Calif. Biggest change is my returning to work. Not to get into all the details but I was hired to run the pro-shop at my local golf course. I've been itching to do something a little more productive and I kind of fell into this. I actually interrupted my vacation down south to come up and interview for the position. I originally wasn't selected but when the original candidate withdrew from consideration the LCMC called me to see if I was still interested.



I was hired back on April 24. Just 2 weeks into the job I was promoted to Golf Course Manager now in charge of both the pro-shop & the maintenance shop. I've really enjoyed the challenges so far and my hard work seems to be netting results and positive responses from the golfers as well as the board of directors at LCMC.

I reunited with my friends for one last trip to South Carolina for golf, we had a great time, weather was really nice and it was fun to have warmer & longer days.




Ben had another art show and he was very successful selling his paintings. We attended his show with Chris's mom & Bob.

Back home, Chris & I planted a garden and Chris just harvested some onions and radishes yesterday. Chris has been fantastic, really helping our with the yard duties. We haven't made any significant changes to the yard except for the garden project & changes with the sprinkler system replacing some heads and adding a 2nd control box to spread out the watering intervals.

Because of work, I wasn't able to spend a week with Jake like I did the year before. I was really looking forward to helping him with his back yard. Still, we got out a couple of Thursdays ago and golfed 54 holes at Trophy Lake in Port Orchard, weather hadn't turned nice yet but we enjoyed each others company for the day, Jake loves golf and is very good when he's under control.

Ben & Matt have been really busy, the past 2 weeks they have been in Hawaii enjoying a much needed vacation as well as reuniting with Matt's parents who returned from a 1 1/2 teaching assignment in Africa.

Carter and Riley have been great, Riley has been much better with the plants this year. Might have something to do with spraying "deer stop" on the plants, doesn't just keep the deer away!

That's it for now, I need to get back into the swing of posting more often.

Back home from Borrego

It's been a very productive 2 weeks since we've been back. Weather has been nice - Easter weekend saw temps climb to the 70's. Our plants have definitely responded, daffodils have bloomed and the tulips are close to bloomimg as well. The flowering plums are bright pink, too bad they only last a few weeks.

Chris has been helping with getting the flower beds cleaned, I've fertilized the yards and edged them as well. I cleaned up the area west of the shop, trimmed up the cedar and outlined the cedar and contorted filbert with rocks. Working on the garden space, need to level it out and buy the manor stones to outline the area then buy the organic compost.



Grandma & Bob have been visiting the past couple of days, we are going over to Seattle to visit Ben's art show this evening. Thursday will be the first official men's club event of the 2013 golf season. I think being the President has helped me meet more members and let me into some of the close knit groups up at the golf course.

Riley and Carter have been great, they have been spending most of the day outdoors during this nice weather. I hope Riley takes it easy on our backyard plants this year.

Back from Borrego

I realized that a posting from Borrego got lost in the blogosphere? I need to catch up. We had a great time down south and would like to spend even more time there next year. The hang-up is the dogs, it has been hard to find a place that will rent to us with two large(r) dogs. I'll keep looking, there are a couple of promising leads.

The weather down south started off cooler than normal and ended up warmer than normal. It actually snowed one day in Florence while visiting Rick. As expected, he was a great host and had everything prepared for me in his motorhome. I really enjoy the relaxed atmosphere and the pool & spa in Florence. Golfing is at times a little difficult because of the popular time of the year, it can be difficult to get a tee time. We ended up playing 4 times during the 2 weeks and I enjoyed my trip there.

It was a great time in Borrego, it was good to see our neighbors again and the weather was fantastic with temps in the 90's as we were leaving. We stayed at the same home overlooking the 14th green at the De Anza Country Club with the mountains as a beautiful backdrop.

We really enjoyed the pool this year, we kept it heated the whole time and took full advantage of the warm water, cool drinks and sunny skies. Ben and Matt came down again driving in a cool Fiat. They were once again the celebrities, making dinner for everyone we had a great time with them.

My golf game wasn't as rusty as I thought it would be, I had a couple of shaky rounds but for the most part I was very consistent and played well - hope that continues when I go to South Carolina here in a couple of week.

Ben had just completed 12 paintings prior to coming down to Borrego and as soon as he got back he needed to set up for his show. It has been wildly successful, he has already sold 8 of the 12 paintings.

I've got more to tell but its 70 degrees here in Hoodsport on Easter Sunday and I need to get to the golf course.